diff --git a/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp b/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
index b7bf54985..0f0e1be9e 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/image_view.hpp
@@ -89,11 +89,10 @@ public:
         return data_.getRow(row + y_) + x_;
     }
 
-    inline char const* getBytes() const
+    inline const unsigned char* getBytes() const
     {
-        return reinterpret_cast<char const*>(&data_);
+        return data_.getBytes();
     }
-
     inline T& data()
     {
         return data_;
diff --git a/include/mapnik/webp_io.hpp b/include/mapnik/webp_io.hpp
index a697b39c9..3e0043770 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/webp_io.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/webp_io.hpp
@@ -116,17 +116,15 @@ void save_as_webp(T1& file,
     if (alpha)
     {
         int stride = sizeof(typename T2::pixel_type) * image.width();
-        uint8_t const* bytes = reinterpret_cast<uint8_t const*>(image.getBytes());
-        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBA(&pic, bytes, stride);
+        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBA(&pic, image.getBytes(), stride);
     }
     else
     {
         int stride = sizeof(typename T2::pixel_type) * image.width();
-        uint8_t const* bytes = reinterpret_cast<uint8_t const*>(image.getBytes());
 #if (WEBP_ENCODER_ABI_VERSION >> 8) >= 1
-        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBX(&pic, bytes, stride);
+        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBX(&pic, image.getBytes(), stride);
 #else
-        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBA(&pic, bytes, stride);
+        ok = WebPPictureImportRGBA(&pic, image.getBytes(), stride);
 #endif
     }